The present invention relates to a movement system for the inspection of a turbine, in particular for a turbine connected to a centrifugal compressor.
During the useful life of a turbine, maintenance operations are envisaged which are necessary for guaranteeing the correct functioning of the turbine.
During these periodical operations, controls and inspections are effected and damaged or worn parts or components are possibly substituted.
The parts of a turbine which are most subject to wear are the turbine blades as they undergo mechanical stress at a high temperature and are also subject to hot corrosion due to the hot gases with which the turbine operates.
This consequently creates the necessity of periodical inspections of the turbine blades to control their integrity and functionality.
During programmed maintenance operations, in order to be able to inspect the blades of the turbine, it is therefore normally necessary to rotate the blades of the turbine itself in particular by rotating the whole turbine rotor.
This is applied especially in the case of a boroscopic inspection.
In order to effect this type of inspection, the turbine must first be decoupled from a centrifugal compressor connected thereto.
More specifically, in order to decouple the turbine and compressor, a loading joint is disassembled. The loading joint connects the shaft of the turbine to the shaft of the centrifugal compressor.
This operation is extremely difficult and also requires specialized labor to avoid damaging a conical coupling situated in particular on the shaft of the centrifugal compressor.
The turbine is then opened and the blades are inspected by means of a boroscope.
As a result of the reduced visibility, it is also necessary to rotate the shaft of the turbine to be able to inspect all of its blades.
The shaft of the low-pressure turbine is then rotated manually by acting on the portion of the turbine shaft, which has been decoupled at the loading joint.
The reason for this is that the shaft of the turbine is not normally very accessible.
Another disadvantage is that a total of two or three days are necessary for dismantling the turbine, inspecting the blades of the turbine and assembling and reactivating it again.
It is consequently evident that the stoppage time of the turbine represents a considerable cost as the turbine cannot be used during the repair.
In addition to this cost, there is the cost of labor and the machines necessary for decoupling the turbine from the compressor, inspecting the turbine blades and reassembling the turbine and the compressor.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a movement system for the inspection of a turbine, which allows an easy and rapid inspection of the turbine blades.
A further objective is to provide a movement system for the inspection of a turbine, which reduces the time and cost associated with inspecting the turbine.
Another objective is to provide a movement system for the inspection of a turbine, which avoids the necessity of having to decouple the shaft of the turbine from that of the compressor connected thereto.
A further objective is to provide a movement system for the inspection of a turbine, which can be easily applied to existing turbines.